12-09-2016, 05:58 PM
I take your point about the quote; that was just a guess on my part. Although it's difficult to imagine what "islands" he was taking about. In the Black or Caspian Sea somewhere? Or somewhere much further away, I guess. And I do remember that the Goths and other tribes invaded Rome because of pressure put on them by the Huns further east, although this was before Attila's time.
Still, my meaning of "islands in the ocean" as a metaphor does describe the increasing social and economic conditions of the Romans in the 3rd and 4th centuries. There's no doubt that historically Rome was declining. Barbarians had been putting pressure on it all along, and it was like in today's south-western America where the outsiders were becoming part of the inside. By 400 AD at least, most of the border guards themselves were originally barbarians.
Empires and other reigns do rise and fall in cycles historically; none ever remains in power "indefinitely," and it's largely because imperial power has its limits, and its power waxes and wanes over time.
Still, my meaning of "islands in the ocean" as a metaphor does describe the increasing social and economic conditions of the Romans in the 3rd and 4th centuries. There's no doubt that historically Rome was declining. Barbarians had been putting pressure on it all along, and it was like in today's south-western America where the outsiders were becoming part of the inside. By 400 AD at least, most of the border guards themselves were originally barbarians.
Empires and other reigns do rise and fall in cycles historically; none ever remains in power "indefinitely," and it's largely because imperial power has its limits, and its power waxes and wanes over time.